Lord Tyler: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, in light of Lord Rooker's comments on 26 October 2006 (HL Deb, cols. 1283—34), they have commissioned research, independent of airlines and aircraft, engine and lubricant manufacturers, into the possible health risks from the use of organophosphates in aircraft engine lubricants.

Lord Triesman: In general, rights of the individual established under the Constitution of an Overseas Territory, or provided for in other legislation, can only be taken away by passing amending legislation. Rights of the individual established by a treaty, which has been extended to an Overseas Territory, can only be removed by extending an amending treaty to the territory, or by denunciation of the treaty. A view would have to be taken at the time as to whether it was appropriate and legal to remove any right.

Lord Triesman: The Diplomatic Service List was previously published by the Stationery Office and had a print run of approximately 2,200 copies. The process of maintaining and collating details of staff movements and biographical data was a year-round task and labour intensive. A review of the Diplomatic Service List in 2006 concluded that the cost of its publication outweighed the benefits and it was decided that the 2006 edition would be the last.
	Information on our diplomatic posts is available at: www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029395231.

Energy: Renewable Obligation Scheme

Lord Truscott: The Renewables Obligation Scheme is a market-based mechanism. It requires suppliers to source an increasing percentage of their sales from eligible sources of renewable energy.
	Suppliers meet their obligation either by presenting Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCS); paying a buy-out price; or a combination. ROCs are issued to generators for each MWh of eligible renewables energy generated. The generators then sell to the suppliers enabling them to meet their obligation.
	(a) As this price is determined by the market and is a private contractual matter between the companies, government do not hold data on it.
	(b) The Non Fossil Purchasing Agency (NFPA) trades ROCs. It purchases the output (and associated ROCs) from the generators subject to the Non Fossil Fuel Obligation at the contract price. It then sells this to electricity suppliers via on-line auctions, with any surplus being paid into the Fossil Fuel Levy. For the period in question, the surplus paid in was:
	
		
			 2002-03 £58 million 
			 2003-04 £83 million 
			 2004-05 £83 million 
			 2005-06 £121 million 
		
	
	(c) HM Treasury does not receive revenue directly from the sale of ROCs.

Lord Triesman: All Written Parliamentary Questions are currently subject to a cost limit of £600. It would exceed this limit for Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials to provide the information of which legal instruments with Article 308 of the Treaty Establishing the European Community (TEC) as their legal base have been passed since 1997—thus incurring disproportionate cost.
	Article 308 of the TEC has been in force since 1999. The Government have given an undertaking that where the Commission puts forward a legislative proposal, citing Article 308 as its legal base, the Commission's justification of this choice of legal base will be provided to the scrutiny committees. We could revert to every Explanatory Memorandum provided to the scrutiny committees since then to determine if Article 308 of the TEC was the legal base cited. However, Explanatory Memoranda have been held centrally only since 2004. In order to compile the list requested, as well as checking three years of centrally held Explanatory Memoranda, each government department would need to check every Explanatory Memorandum issued between 1999 and 2004. We estimate to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
	The European Commission maintains the Europa website which provides public access to information about the EU. The Eur-Lex database on that website allows consultation of the Official Journal of the EU and it includes inter alia the treaties, legislation, case-law and legislative proposals. That database can be consulted at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm. However, the Commission publishes a disclaimer on its website which notes that information is "not necessarily comprehensive, complete, accurate or up to date".

Lord Bradley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many participants there have been in the New Deal for Lone Parents in each month since 1998 in the City of Manchester; how many of those have successfully found employment in each month; and how many have remained in employment for longer than six months.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Information has been placed in the Library on the number of participants there have been on the New Deal for Lone Parents, and the number of those who have found employment, in each month since 1998, in the Manchester local authority area. This is the closest data which matches the City of Manchester area. Data is to August 2006.
	Of those gaining a job through the New Deal for Lone Parents in the Manchester local authority area since October 1998 when the programme started, 3,030 people have remained in employment for longer than six months.

Lord Triesman: In January 2006, our Ambassador in Cairo raised with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry our concerns about the death of Sudanese refugees during a police operation to disperse a demonstration by refugees in December 2005. He pressed for an inquiry into what had taken place. We understand that the Egyptian public prosecutor subsequently began an investigation into the incident; we continue to press for news about its progress.
	The Egyptian and Sudanese Governments held official discussions about the payment of compensation to families of the victims of the incident in December 2005. We have raised the incident and more generally the importance of upholding human rights and the fair treatment of Sudanese refugees in Egypt both with the Egyptian authorities and with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and have reminded both of their obligations in this regard.
	The UNHCR office in Cairo works for the protection of all refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt. In addition, it provides material assistance to individual refugees and asylum seekers within the limits of its budget. It is also building community assistance structures and providing vocational training and job placement services for them.